Dresser with DIY Copper Pipe Drawer Pulls

Dresser with DIY Copper Pipe Drawer Pulls

Today I am sharing our new navy dresser with DIY copper pipe drawer pulls, and it seriously makes me happy every time I look at it.

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this photo I recently shared:

Dresser With DIY Copper Pipe Drawer Pulls

It’s kinda sad but we actually bought this dresser off of craigslist a year ago {yikes!} and it’s just been sitting in storage ever since. The main problem is I was so indecisive when it came to transforming it, so I just let it sit there until I knew for sure what I wanted to do. Do you ever do this?

I know I have taken photos of this dresser numerous times whenever I thought a makeover may be soon approaching, however, I had issues finding any of those photos. Luckily I did find the original craigslist ad from when I took a screenshot and sent it to Eric to see if we should buy it, haha.

Here is the photo from the craigslist ad. It said it was a basset tall boy for $50, not too shabby, eh? Well as it turns out it’s not a Bassett, and also not 8 drawers. It had 2 top drawers but the bottom 3 are large drawers with 2 knobs each, which makes them look separate.

Even so, I thought it was a great piece of furniture, at a very reasonable price. One of my favorite things about this dresser is the built in jewelry compartments and cedar lined drawers.

It was made by Sieling Modern Furniture, a company out of Railroad Pennsylvania that sold most of it’s furniture to NY and Chicago, but was short lived and went out of business around the 70’s. I really enjoy reading about the history of furniture and this article, {which the photo below is from} was a really interesting read. I also remember reading a while back that the billboard was put up around the 1940’s near the railroad and could only be seen by those traveling by train back in the day. Now I can’t seem to find that article but thought it was interesting regardless 🙂

I also found this ad for a job in the Gettysburg Times on September 18th 1967:

Do you have any Sieling Furniture or know anything about the company? If so I’d love to hear about it!

Okay now on to the Transformation…

So the first thing I did was give the dresser a light sanding, followed by some custom mixed navy blue paint. Afterwards I followed it up with a couple coats of Polyacrylic. I’ve gotta admit that I generally use wax on painted furniture and use the polyacrylic for wood surfaces, but I like the added luster it gave.

Since the dresser is pretty square I wanted to add some legs to the bottom to give it some added height and character. I purchased a 4 pack of wood furniture legs nearly a year ago {pretty soon after we had bought the dresser} at a True Value store, and based on the packaging I think it may have been there since the 70’s, haha. It was $7.99 for all four legs which was pretty awesome.

I painted the wood with the navy blue paint and then taped them off to paint the bottom with Krylon’s copper spray paint.

Here is the before and after photo of the furniture feet for our dresser with DIY copper pipe drawer pulls:

I was originally inspired by the whole copper pipe drawer pulls from my friend Brynne of The Gathered Home, who made an AH-MAZING desk with them. However I knew I wanted my drawer pulls to sit away from the dresser so I browsed the hardware store until I came up with a solution… copper pipe bell hangers! The bell hangers basically hold the pipe in place and allow it to sit off of the drawers.

Overall I’d say the drawer pulls cost us about $28 total since we already had the pipe cutter, bolts and screws on hand. I knew I wanted to go with longer drawer pulls versus knobs because the drawers are pretty heavy and it was difficult to open them with the type of knobs it originally came with. Plus copper pipes are awesome, amiright? 🙂 We bought a 10 foot 1/2″ copper pipe and then cut it down into sections with the pipe cutter.

I figured this would be a good time to test out the whole cleaning copper with ketchup thing I’ve been seeing. I had read you could mix equal parts ketchup and kosher salt, rub it on the pipe, and wipe it off with warm water, so that’s what I did. I actually removed any gunky stickers first with fine steel wool. The ketchup/salt worked like a charm! I later tried it with just ketchup and it seemed to work just as well.

WOW, did those clean up pretty! I’ve gotta admit that these pipes can get dirty fast with smudgy fingerprints, but I don’t mind. {By the way, there was a comment left by Karen that said if you spray clear spray paint on top of the hardware, it will prevent smudge marks and oxidation, so clever! Thanks Karen!}.

The bell hangers come with long screws in the center so we replaced those with shorter bolts that fit inside the dresser drawers and added bolts to the other end. The we simply placed the copper pipes inside the 2 bell hangers and tightened the screws. Sooooo easy! For the top drawers we just used one bell hanger and smaller cut pipes. Make sure you used flat headed bolts so they don’t take up much space next to the pipes. I then added the caps to the end of each pipe for a more finished look. Update: I actually wound up adding epoxy to the caps and then sticking them on the ends to keep them in place. If you don’t mind them being on there permanently, this is a great solution!

And here she is with the DIY copper pipe drawer pulls all finished! Isn’t she lovely?

Here is the before and after:

So what do you think of our dresser with DIY copper pipe drawer pulls? I love how the copper next to the navy gives it an almost nautical look. Are you sucked into the copper craze or not so much? I am using gold pipes in my office but was excited to incorporate some copper into other parts of our home.

91 Comments

This is absolutely gorgeous! I’m obsessed with copper right now too and I love how it pairs with the navy. Never knew about the salt/ketchup cleaning method; definitely going to have to remember that one! Pinned 🙂 Have a great day!

This is one of the best diy projects I have seen in a long time! I absolutely love the legs and hardware that you incorporated. You created a gem, even if the original ad was slightly misleading. I also love that you included a little education about the furniture maker. Great finished piece!

Awwww, thanks Julie that is so sweet! You’re right and even though the ad was misleading it was still a really well built piece of furniture and $50 definitely wasn’t too shabby. So happy you like how it turned out!

Thanks Katie! The legs came with the plates and hardware to attach them to the bottom of the dresser. So we basically just screwed them into the bottom. It was fairly easy and they are very sturdy. I wasn’t sure at forest because the dresser is so wide and they seemed kinda small, but it’s all good 🙂

I was literally thinking “I wonder if I could use pipe to make new kitchen cabinet handles for I house I want to / fantasize that I might buy” and saw your link at MMS. Now I HAVE to buy the house, don’t I? Do you think these fittings would hold up for a vertical installation?

Your talent seriously blows me away each week. I get so much inspiration from your blog. We picked up an old dresser a few weeks ago and it’s sitting in our garage waiting for me to do something with it. My hubby wants to keep the wood grain, but I want to paint it. I’ll have to show him your transformation. Would love if you shared you talents with us at the Merry Monday Linky Party tomorrow at 6pm PST.

What a really cool makeover!!! It was worth all the wait so you could figure out exactly what to do with it. It looks nothing like the original! I love that you found the ad in there from the 60’s! I found a bank statement from Oakland, California (not far from where I live) from the 50’s in the back of a desk drawer. I love treasures like that!

Thanks Karen, now that this one is done I guess it’s time to get to the other projects I’ve been hoarding in our garage, haha. I love finding stuff like that in furniture too, and how neat that it’s near where you currently live 🙂

I can’t believe I haven’t already told you how amazing this is! I’ve been so behind on my blog reading lately… Well, let me say it now: These are FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! I absolutely need to get my hands on some of those bell hangers – pure genius!!!

Wow, you knocked this out of the park. What a wonderful transformation. The copper pipe provides a wonderful polished industrial feel. I love it!! I’m hopping over from Merry Monday. Leaving hugs and inviting you to share at my Thursday hop ( starts tonight 8 PM MST)

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Andrea

It definitely paid off to take the time to figure out what you wanted to do with this piece because it is awesome! The color and finish of the paint paired with that super cool copper hardware is a stunning combination. I have several projects on hold until I have a vision for them – I hope they turn out even half as nice as this! Great ideas and execution. Thank you for the inspiration!

Gioconda

Wow as a copper lover I have to say Bravo this idea of the copper hardware is so great and ingenious that I have a project and I so doing the hardware pulls I of course asking for your permission to do so thanks lovely and elegant transformations.

Diana

I think this is absolutely beautiful! I love the idea of using copper to up-cycle things for my home, but my father mentioned that copper can discolor over time. Have you had any issues with that? Or any ideas how to prevent that from happening?

The copper definitely can get smudgy over time, but you can always spray a clear sealer on top after you clean them. I have received comments that this will help keep them clean and shiny. I honestly haven’t done it and a little bit of oxidation doesn’t bother me. 🙂

~Katie

July 30, 2015 at 1:08 pm

Brandi K

You can check with your local hardware stores or at Amazon, but I’ve found that Lowes almost always has them in stock. I recommend checking out their site first so you can see if they are in stock and how many they have. You can even just order from the site and then go pick them up. They often sell the singles as well as 10 packs.

I found your post on Pinterest and decided to make these copper pipe pulls for a dresser and nightstand! Thanks for the tutorial! I just revealed the room on my blog– check it out!http://www.kemleydesign.blogspot.com

Rebecca miller

Stacey

How did you determine how much pipe to get/ what are the measurements of your pipe lengths? I thought I saw something about it before, but I might have just been crazy. I am definitely doing this with my craft dresser!

September 7, 2016 at 4:50 pm

Terri McIntyre

I know its a long time since this post but I have just found your blog and it is exactly what I am looking for in my kitchen renovation project I am currently doing, my problem is finding the fittings here in the Uk and I wondered if anyone else had had a similar problem and if anyone knew of any suppliers for the fittings? any help would be fantastic, cheers Terri

September 27, 2016 at 6:56 am

Lauren Baker

You should! We actually made all of our curtain rods from pipe in our last home. It was a lot more cost effective than the ones you buy, especially for our larger windows, and I loved how it looked too 🙂

November 25, 2016 at 11:48 am

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Hi there! I'm Katie and this is my husband Eric, and we're the faces behind Mountain Modern Life (formerly Upcycled Treasures), where we share our love for all things DIY, rustic-modern, and re-imagined. Our goal is to inspire YOU to create the environment you’ve always wanted, whether that’s through design, a certain lifestyle, or a combination of both. You can learn more about us here.

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